"He's done very well in black and white shirt and hopefully that will continue," Shearer said. "He's an excellent goalscorer, his movement is excellent and he's been a great asset for Newcastle so hopefully he'll stay.

"If someone is prepared to pay it then you're worth it, it's nothing to do with the players is it? I said that when I signed for £15m then if someone is stupid enough to pay that then you're worth it.

"It was it was a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a footballer," the former England captain added. "I said it at the time and I'll continue to say it. If you look at what is going on in the world the millions that are being paid for footballers is crazy."

Ba's 11th league goal of the season wasn't enough for Newcastle to prevent a sixth league defeat in seven games against champions Manchester City on Saturday, as Sergio Aguero, Javi Garcia and Yaya Toure's goals piled the misery on Alan Pardew's men.

While Pardew will be seeking to retain a number of his prized assets in January, he's likely to look for new additions to his squad with seven first team players currently out injured.

But Shearer believes that owner Mike Ashley's reluctance to spend big in the summer window, when the likes of Vurnon Anita, Gael Bigirimana and Romain Amalfitano joined the club, is contributing to the Toon's decline in the current campaign.